Some companies are requiring staff to sign employment contracts which mean they could be sacked if they fall into debt and have a County Court Judgment against them.

A CCJ, as its names suggests, is a repayment for a debt imposed by a county court judge. Any company or organisation owed money can apply for one, and for relatively small amounts, such as unpaid parking fines.

However, once the CCJ is paid off it can be wiped from a credit record; during June and September 2011 an average 1,391 were issued every day and the average judgment was for £3,345 of debt.

For Anne (her name has been changed) it came as a shock to learn an unpaid credit card could lose her her job. Four years ago she had problems paying back her credit card after being made redundant. "I lost my job, my marriage broke up and I took my eye off the ball. As a result, I got behind with my credit card and didn't make any payment for six months."

Eventually, the credit card company took Anne to court, which, with interest, totalled just over £8,000.

"Thankfully, by that time, I was working again and in a position to pay – the CCJ required I pay the bill back over two years. I set up a standing order and thought nothing of it."

That was until Anne changed jobs several months later. "I was headhunted to work for another company. It was better pay and there were more staff benefits."

However, when she received her contract of employment, she noticed, under the terms of dismissal section, that staff could be sacked if they had a CCJ or were made bankrupt.

Anne took advice from a friend who works in employment law and decided not to mention her CCJ to her new employer. "I knew it would be paid off within the year. In fact, my new job, with its increased salary, meant I could pay it off sooner."

Anne eventually quit her job and set up her own company. "For me it's worked out well, but I could have lost my job and it was a constant worry. I just wanted it paid off. Now I'm debt free but one thing it has taught me is to pay all my bills on time."

Fraser Younson, an employment lawyer specialising in employment contracts, said Anne may have been justified in keeping her CCJ a secret.

"Unless someone is in a position of financial responsibility then there is no reason why they should have such a clause in their contract. Should someone get dismissed because they have a CCJ, they can contest the decision on the grounds of reasonableness."

Younson, who is a partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner, explains that dismissing an employee for having a CCJ could be said to be unreasonable if they weren't in a financially responsible position and were dismissed only because of the CCJ. Such a decision would come under the grounds of unfair dismissal.

"But it's a catch-22 because, if someone loses their job because they've had a county court judgment entered against them, they would have a right to contest it via an employment tribunal. But they would have to hire a lawyer, and if they are having financial troubles they wouldn't have the money. Therefore we – lawyers – don't hear about such decisions because they don't get to court."

There is one notable profession in which you do need to have a whiter-than-white credit record. Accountants, for perhaps obvious reasons, can find themselves struck off by their professional body for having even a whiff of personal financial mis-management.

One accountant, who did not want to be named, told Guardian Money: "I once had a parking fine which I knew I had been wrongly charged for.

"But I ended up paying the £120 fine just to make sure I didn't have to go to court, even though I knew the parking authority was in the wrong. I know colleagues who've found themselves paying off small bills that they should have contested just to keep their credit record clean."

It is comforting to know that, for non-finance professions – with the exception of Members of Parliament and company directors – even being made bankrupt cannot necessarily get you the sack.

"Again, it comes down to 'reasonableness'," says Younson. "If you are made bankrupt it might be something you want to discuss with your employer. But if you are able to carry out your role, then you should not lose your job because of your personal financial circumstances."